Share a Ride

Options for sharing a ride abound! Carpooling allows for use of HOV lanes on Bay Area highways and at Bay Area bridges, as well as reduced tolls across the Bay Bridge during rush hour.

Dynamic Ride Matching

Through partnership with 511.org, several private ride matching companies can help you find a carpool in real time – no ongoing commitment, and guaranteed ride home included. Partners include Scoop, Carzac, and Duet. Find a ride now!

Traditional Carpooling

511.org also maintains a database of individuals interested in carpooling. You can find others who share similar schedules and commutes and coordinate an ongoing carpool from there. Sign up now!

Casual Carpooling

Casual carpooling is a Bay Area practice of sharing rides from Alameda to downtown San Francisco. Carpool riders line up in designated locations during the AM commute hours, and drivers pick them up, drive them to San Francisco, and drop them off on Fremont Street between Folsom and Howard. Pick-up locations in Alameda are at Webster & Santa Clara outside of Café Jolie, and at Encinal & Park. For more information, click here.

UberPool and Lyft

Using these Lyft and Uber services saves time and money and reduces traffic and congestion in Alameda.

The City of Alameda has launched the Alameda Loop Shuttle – formerly the Alameda Paratransit Shuttle –providing free rides throughout the city, Shuttles run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m; three shuttle routes provide access to major shopping destinations and medical facilities including. Alameda Loop Shuttle uses two new buses that are accessible and are equipped with bike racks and wheelchair lifts.

Hop on a Bike

Alameda is the first East Bay city with a public dock-less bike share system, using LimeBike. At least 300 LimeBikes will be available throughout the island and will be regularly re-distributed to the spots where people want to ride to and from.

Bikes are simple to find, unlock, and ride off using the iPhone or Android smartphone app. The cost is $1 for every 30 minutes. Adults are encouraged to bring their own helmet, and everyone under 18 is required by law to wear a helmet. For more information and to register go to: www.alamedaca.gov/bikeshare.

For trips across the island, biking is a great choice! You can travel to or from almost anywhere in Alameda within 30 minutes on a bicycle. Bike Walk Alameda provides a trove of information regarding walking and bicycling on the Island. They provide a Bicycle & Walking Map, as well as a list of Alameda Bicycle Shops.

Take the Ferry

Ferry service is provided at the Main Street Ferry Terminal seven days a week, and at the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal on weekdays during commute hours. The Main Street Ferry provides service to Downtown San Francisco, Jack London Square, Pier 41, and special event service to AT&T Park. The Harbor Bay Ferry also provides service to downtown San Francisco.

Service between San Francisco and the Main Street Ferry Terminal also includes service to Jack London Square in Oakland on most trips. Check schedules for details on the order in which terminals are served.

Connect to BART

You can connect to BART at either 12th Street / Downtown Oakland Station or Fruitvale Station by taking an AC Transit bus. For information on BART schedules, visit bart.gov

From Alameda

To 12th Street / Downtown Oakland BART Station

51A toward Rockridge BART

19 toward Downtown Oakland

20 toward Downtown Oakland

96 toward Dimond District

To Fruitvale BART

51A toward Fruitvale BART

19 toward Fruitvale BART

20 toward Dimond District

21 toward Dimond District

To Alameda

From 12th Street / Downtown Oakland BART Station

51A toward Fruitvale BART

19 toward Fruitvale BART

20 toward Fruitvale BART

96 toward Alameda Point

From Fruitvale BART

51A toward Rockridge BART

19 toward Downtown Oakland

20 toward Downtown Oakland

21 toward Oakland Airport

Use a Car Sharing Service

The Alameda City Council approved an agreement with Gig Car Share to locate up to 50 Gig Car Share vehicles on the main island of Alameda (not available yet at Bay Farm Island). Carsharing aims to reduce car ownership and provide greater transportation choices. Alameda has “dedicated space” carsharing at four locations with Getaround (formerly City CarShare), along with peer-to-peer carsharing, which allows Alamedans to rent their private vehicles to neighbors. The agreement with Gig allows one-way or point-to-point rentals, where members are able to rent available vehicles and end trips anywhere in designated areas. For Gig Car Share, designated areas include two parking lots in San Francisco, the city of Albany, and the core areas of Oakland and Berkeley, which includes seven BART stations – Fruitvale, West Oakland, Lake Merritt, North Berkeley, Ashby, Rockridge, and MacArthur.